Blank for forming pitchforks.



No. 761,681. I I PATBNTED B'Z, 1904. c. K. JANSBN & P. EISBRENNBR. BLANK FOR FORMING PITOHFORKS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2, 1904.

.10 IODEL.

ficvoniors THE mzmils PETERS co.. PHOYb-LIYHQ, WASHINOYON. n. cy

UNITED STATES Patented June '7, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

BLANK FOR FORMING PITCHFORKS.

SIPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,681, dated June f, 1904.

Application filed April 2,1904. Serial No. 201,300. (No model.) I

To (all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CARL K. JANsEN and FRANK EIsBRENNER, of the town of Tilsonburg, county of Oxford, Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n- Blanks for Forming Pitchforks, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to devise a blank for the manufacture of three or five tined hay-forks, manure-forks, and the like which may be stamped from the stock at one operation without waste of material and in which the base of the stock for the center tine is exactly opposite and in line with the stock for the shank, substantially as hereinafter more specifically described and then definitely claimed.

Figure 1 is a'plan View showing one complete blank for a three-tined fork and parts seen that each blank comprises a shank portion A, a center tine portion B, and outer tine portions C and D.

The die used in stamping a blank is so shaped that as stamped out the shank portion A is separated from the outer tine portion 0 by a cut, while the outer tine portion D is separated from the shank by a space corresponding exactly in shape and size to the center tine portion B. The base of the center tine portion is exactly opposite to and in line with the shank, while itsmain portion is offset laterally to bring it into a position corresponding with the space between the outer tine portion D and the shank portion A.

The part E of the blank connecting the shank and the various tine portions is preferably curved, being convex toward the center tine portion B. I

From the construction described it follows that after the blank has been stamped from I the bar the metal remaining at the end of the bar forms part of the next blank. Hence at each stroke of the die a complete blank is turned out without waste, the only waste oc curring at the commencement of the operation, when a piece has to be stamped out corresponding to the center tine portion and centrally-connecting part of a blank.

Not only with a blank shaped as described is all waste avoided, but the base of the central tine portion is exactly opposite and in line with the shank. This is a most important point in the construction of a fork with a central tine, as it is thus made absolutely certain that the central tine will be in line with the shank, and therefore with the handle,when the fork has been completed. The complete blank, such as shown in Fig. 2, is suitably rolled and put through the ordinary processes necessary to complete the fork.

By a modification our improved blank can be adapted for the construction of five-tilled forks, the chief difference being that the outside portions C' and D are made of extra width, so as to contain enough material each for two tines. The position and general arrangement of the shank portion A and cen tral tine portion B remain the same. Another point to be noted is that in this modification the connecting part E of the blank is shaped somewhat differently, its right-hand portion being on a curve of shorter radius than the left-hand portion and extending up beyond the end of the cut separating the shank portion A from the outside tine portion C. Thence the connecting portion E runs diagonally to the outside of the bar. The object of this construction is to give a sufficient amount of metal for the formation of the straight laterally-extending portion which separates the center tine in a five-tined fork from the adjacent tine on either side. After the blank has been completed, as shown in Fig. A, the cuts-a and b are made in the side tine portions, and the blank then goes through 7 important changes being merely the addition to the outside parts of the blank of suiiieient material for the extra tines.

What We claim as our invention is 1. An integral blank for forming pitehforks and the like comprising the shank portion, the center tine portion extending in the opposite direction to the said shank portion and having its base in line with and opposite the base of the shank, and outside tine portions separated respectively from the shank portion by a cut and by a space corresponding in size and shape to the center tine portion, substantially as described.

2. An integral blank for forming pitchforks and the like, comprising the shank portion, the center tine portion extending in the opposite direction to the said shank portion and having its base in line With and opposite the base of the shank, and outside tine portions separated respectively from the shank portion by a space, and the center tine portion extending in the opposite direction to the other parts of the blank and corresponding in size and shape to the space between the said outside tine portions, substantially as described.

Tilsonburg, March 29, 1904.

CARL K. JANSEN. FRANK El SBRENNER.

In presence of- \V. A. DowLun,

MARY llORNE, A. H. DOWLER. 

